


Life in Paris

by Artemis_Fandom_Things



Series: Hydra AU [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, F/M, Gen, Identity Reveal, Lila Rossi Lies, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug is Called MDC, Marinette skipped one grade, New Miraculous Holders, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Smart Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Smart Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:00:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25877815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Fandom_Things/pseuds/Artemis_Fandom_Things
Summary: When Papillion starts terrorizing Paris, two heroes are chosen to fight against him.Marinette and Adrien, however, don't have just Papillion to fight, especially since their lives outside the mask are just as hectic.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Hydra AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853158
Comments: 24
Kudos: 207





	1. Chapter 1

Marinette is only thirteen when, upon climbing up into her room, she finds the Miraculous Box keeping the Ladybug’s Earrings.

She freaks out, of course, rightfully so upon seeing the glowing pink light that surges up from the earrings as soon as she opens the box, then she freaks out more when she meets Tikki, the tiny creature who also just so happens to be the embodiment of Creation.

She doesn’t have the time to freak out  _ more _ , that she has to fight her own classmate-turned-into-a-monster.

* * *

The day he receives the Black Cat’s Miraculous Adrien is  _ ecstatic _ . Not only is it something he thought could never happen outside of movies or his anime collection, but it’s also a way to get the freedom he has been craving since his mother disappeared- _ died _ , another part of himself, one he forcefully pushes away, says- and his father grew distant.

He’s excited, amazed,  _ overjoyed _ , and he can’t help but transform as soon as Plagg tells him the key words, jumping out his window right after and onto the parisian rooftops.

Fighting a rock monster isn’t quite what he expected, but meeting the ladybug girl is like the cherry on top of the cake.

* * *

Marinette’s relationship with Adrien starts a little rocky.

At first, there’s a misunderstanding, and it causes Marinette to dislike him. Then Adrien throws that dislike away and Marinette leaves with the start of a crush.

She alternates days when she can talk to Adrien normally, no stutters or weird phrasings, to days when they just…  _ click _ and they look and act like the best of friends, no awkwardness, no stuttering, as if they’d known each other forever.

But they’re friends, and that’s what matters the most.

* * *

Ladybug is the first to suggest it.

“Should we ask for outside help?” She turns, her blue eyes meeting Chat’s green ones. “To other heroes? Someone more experienced.”

Chat frowns. “Like Superman?”

“Yeah, like him. I was thinking the Justice League.”

“I think we could wait a bit, first,” Chat says. “Let’s see how the situation develops, first. I mean, the Miraculous did come from  _ somewhere _ , right? What if we aren’t the only people with a Miraculous in Paris? Besides Papillion, obviously.”

“Tikki did say I was chosen,” Ladybug mutters.

“M’Lady?”

Ladybug blinks and turns to him. “Sorry! I said, my kwami, she said I was  _ chosen _ .”

“Being chosen implies someone made a choice,” Chat realises, eyes widening. “There’s someone that knows about the Miraculous, who gave them to us.”

“And they’re here in Paris,” Ladybug concludes. “Let’s wait. Let’s see if this person makes themselves known, how Papillion acts. If we feel like needing experienced help, we’ll reach for outside help.”

Chat grins, offering a fistbump. “As you wish, My Lady.”

* * *

It’s two month into the ‘Miraculous Business’, as they decided to call it, that Chat brings it up again. The ‘let’s call for outside help’ thing.

“I think we have the akuma attacks handled,” Chat muses, looking up at the moon from his perch. “But if we want this to end soon, rather than later, we need to find out who Papillion is. I have nothing against Paris’ police force, but I don’t think they’re equipped to deal with magical threats, and, well, we’re both kids. We don’t exactly have the investigative abilities necessary to find Papillion.”

Ladybug frowns, pondering over Chat’s suggestion. “Let’s wait another month, maybe? To see if whoever gave us the Miraculous shows up, and if not we call the Justice League.”

“We call sooner if we decide the akumas become harder.”

Ladybug nods at that, then they fistbump, sealing the deal.

* * *

“Is it recording? Yes? Alright then-” the video zooms out, showing a pigtailed girl in a red suit with black spots, a domino over blue eyes and hair in pigtails standing close to a blond boy in a leather catsuit, complete with faux ears and tail, and his cat-like eyes are curious behind his domino “-I’m Ladybug and he’s my partner, Chat Noir. We’re Paris’ new heroes.”

“She says new, because we are one hundred percent new to this,” Chat interjects. “We weren’t expecting to become heroes at all.”

Steeling herself, Ladybug starts explaining. “For the last few months, Paris has been regularly under akuma’s attacks at the hand of a villain named Papillion. Akumas means both corrupted, magical butterflies that give Papillion the power to warp one’s negative emotions, and the, uh….”

“Monster,” Chat supplies, tone even. 

“The monster those people get turned in if they give in to Papillion’s control. Right now we’re alone,” Ladybug continues, “we have no mentor that we actually know of, our police isn’t equipped to deal with magical threats, and neither me nor Chat Noir have the abilities to try and find out Papillion’s civilian identity beyond casual guesses.”

“We aren’t asking you to give us a lot, just for someone to come here and help us, and Paris, to end this before it becomes bad,” Chat pleads. “We’re just kids, and while we’re doing our best, we weren’t trained for this, so please-”

“Justice League,  _ help us _ ,” they both conclude, and the video ends.

* * *

Disbelieving eyes stare at the dark screen. They don’t quite believe what they just saw, they didn’t think someone would actually dare to do that.

Sending a joke video to the Justice League, uh. What a  _ farce _ .

With the click of a mouse, the video is deleted.

* * *

Things become complicated when, while following Adrien and the new girl, Lila, Tikki convinces Marinette to take Adrien’s book. They bring it to a traditional, chinese massage parlour, where Marinette meets a familiar face.

“You’re the one that healed Tikki!” she exclaims, and the man- Wang Fu, as he introduced himself- nods.

“And it’s finally nice to properly meet you, Ladybug,” Fu says, and Marinette  _ stills _ .

“You know who I am?”

“Of course, as I was the one to give you and Chat Noir your Miraculous after all.”

Marinette snaps her mouth shut, lips thinning in a line. With a deep breath, Marinette shows him the book, and it’s Fu’s turn to freeze.

“The book of the Miraculous,” he whispers. “I thought it lost forever.”

Marinette frowns, glancing at Tikki, then back at Fu. “How much is that book important?”

“Very,” Fu says. “It has many secrets about the Miraculous in it, and while it’s written in code, I’m sure I can translate it, given enough time.”

“Okay,” Marinette agrees, “I-” A loud boom resounds in the distance, and Marinette snaps to attention.

“Tikki,  _ Spots On _ !”

* * *

“I met them,” Ladybug says, looking down to the streets.

Chat blinks. “Who?”

“The person who gave us the Miraculous,” she clarifies. “I met him.”

“How did it go?” Chat asks, sounding hesitant.

Ladybug rethinks about her meeting with Master Fu, how he always referred to her as Ladybug, how he was so focused on the book to think about the consequences following its disappearance- Adrien’s being accused of losing it, him being pulled out of school, Gabriel’s akumatisation- how he seemed contrite about giving the book back to its owner…

How Fu made her swear not to tell Chat Noir about their meeting, about his existence.

“Hopefully, next time it will go better.”

* * *

Marinette’s birthday comes and goes, surrounded by her friends and family, and Alya has a quick revelation.

“You’re fourteen?” Alya asks, befuddled.

Marinette chuckles, nervous. “Yeah?”

“Does that mean you skipped a year?”

“I… did. I did,” Marinette confirms, trying to shrug it off as nothing. “Back in école élémentaire. It’s why Chloè bullied me, actually. Because I was younger than everyone else and the teachers kept on complimenting me in class and our classmates were giving me the attention instead of her… A mix of things, really.”

Alya softens, then, and envelops Marinette into a hug. “You’re my best friend, you know that right?”

“I do, Alya,” Marinette whispers. “I really do.”

* * *

Things become a little more complicated when Ella and Etta, Alya’s twin, younger sisters are akumatised into Sapotis.

Marinette gives Alya the first excuse she can think of, joining the fight immediately, then she summons her Lucky Charm and she’s sprinting to Fu’s parlor, reaching it in way less time it should’ve taken her as she did it untransformed and Fu opens the door right as she gets there.

“Welcome, Ladybug. Come inside.”

Fu leads her to the massage room, and then he tinkers with the gramophone placed on a high table and a box comes out, with chinese symbols in red painted over the dark wood of the hexagonal box. Lifting the cover, Marinette sees five triangular slots surrounding other two placed in the circle in the centre, each slot separated by a thin, gold border and each differently coloured.

Only two of those seven slots are occupied, an orange one with a foxtail necklace and a yellow one with a bee’s hair comb.

“Choose wisely, Ladybug,” Fu warns.

Marinette’s mind screams at her to make the right choice, and something makes her go straight for the necklace, the pendant tingling lightly as she lifts it by the golden chain. “This one,” she says. “I choose this one.”

Fu nods. “Very well.”

* * *

"Alya Césaire, here is the Miraculous of the Fox, which grants the power of illusion. You will use it for the greater good. Once the job is done, you will return the Miraculous to me. Can I trust you?"

"Totally, Ladybug."

* * *

“Nino Lahiffe, this is the Miraculous of the Turtle, which grants the power of Protection. You will use it for the greater good. Once the job is done, you will return the Miraculous to me. Can I trust you?"

“You bet, dudette!”

* * *

“Chloè Bourgeois, here is the Bee Miraculous, which grants you the power to immobilize you opponent. You will use it for the greater good. Once the job is complete, you will return the Miraculous to me. Can I trust you, Chloè?"

“I won’t disappoint you, Ladybug!”

* * *

Then Scarlet Moth happens.

* * *

“We have a team now,” Ladybug says, staring at the camera of her yo-yo. “We have a team, and the situation here in Paris isn’t getting any better. We didn’t ask for much. Just for someone,  _ anyone _ to come here and help us.”

“We’re kids,” Chat says, looking frustrated. “We’re kids, and we’re officially fighting a war. Papillion called it a war. Against us, because he wants the Miraculous.”

“The Justice League is supposed to help, right?” a fox-themed girl asks, clearly rhetorically. “Then  _ where are you _ ?”

“Rena,” Ladybug placates, and a bee-themed girl huffs.

“She’s right,” the bee snaps. “Aren’t they supposed to help?”

“Queen Bee!” Ladybug gasps, eyes wide. “There’s no need for that! Both of you, calm down!”

A turtle-themed boy nervously laugh, pulling at his hood. “Maybe they just didn’t see your first video?”

“Maybe not,” Rena concedes. “But it’s been months.”

“It’s been closer to one year than months, actually,” Queen Bee points out, then she shrugs. “But don’t mind me.”

“It’s been one year,” Ladybug says, going back to the camera. “One year where we’ve waited patiently for any kind of answer, any kind of communication from you. Do you not care that a bunch of kids now have to fight a war?”

“We just want to know if you’re going to help,” Chat almost demands through gritted teeths. “We aren’t asking much, are we?”

* * *

**[Delete one (1) video?]**

**[** **Yes** **] [No]**

“Those kids again….” They click on the mouse. “Hopefully they’ll stop.”

* * *

Then Lila Rossi comes back, and Marinette’s life starts spiralling.


	2. Chapter 2

“Are you going to expose her?” Adrien asks, glancing at Marinette.

“Of course! She’s-”

“A liar. I know,” Adrien interjects. “Will it do any help, though? Hurting a bad guy never made them become good. As long as we both know, isn’t it fine?”

Marinette frowns, looking towards Lila and their classmates. “Maybe it will. I just… I just don’t like liars.”

* * *

Marinette doesn’t stop trying to expose Lila, if only because she can’t help it. She tries to be subtle about it, tries not to outright call her out, tries to make people  _ reason _ -

It doesn’t work.

Lila sends her smug looks through the days, somehow knowing when Marinette fails to convince someone of her lies. Still, despite Lila often complaining about Marinette herself, her classmates aren’t as quick to believe her as with the other things.

They’ve known Marinette for years; they know she isn’t like Lila is claiming her to be.

It’s why Lila stops, actually. She realises Marinette has too much of a good reputation for her to try and tarnish it so quickly. She tries to get Marinette expelled, and she almost succeeds, but Adrien is incredibly fast to speak up, green eyes blown wide in shock and words coming out in a rush.

Damocles decides to put the matter away, right as Lila gives him a tale of her ‘lying disease’.

* * *

“I’m so, so sorry, Marinette,” Adrien says, eyes downcast. “I didn’t know she would do that.”

She stares at him, a little hurt, mostly relieved. “It’s fine now. Monsieur Damocles retired the expulsion, and he cleared it up from my file, too.”

“It shouldn’t have happened.”

“It shouldn’t have,” Marinette agrees. She also shouldn’t have followed his advice. She knows he meant well, but it’s also easy to forget Adrien is fairly new to school and social interactions that aren’t in a formal or work-related setting. 

Adrien had no way to know his advice was bull, so most of the fault was with Marinette. For not explaining why it wasn’t going to work.

“I thought she would’ve been like- like a tabloid!” Adrien huffs, clearly frustrated. “Don’t give her attention, ignore her and she goes away. But doing that only seemed to make things worse.”

“It’s because Lila is a bully,” Marinette explains. “Ignoring a bully, yeah, sometimes they get tired and they don’t bother you anymore, but they don’t stop. Not really. They just switch targets. Lila isn’t going to switch targets. She wants attention, and ignoring her only makes her angry, an it also makes things worse for… For me. Because if she says I did something and I don’t even try to refute it, then people think her claim has some form of truth, and they become suspicious, and then they’re more likely to believe what she says later.”

Adrien sags, shoulders slumped. “I really messed up, did I?”

Marinette smiles, enveloping him in a side hug. “But you recognise it, and are planning to do better. Right?”

“I am.” Adrien looks her in the eyes, unwavering. “ _ I am _ .”

* * *

Adrien still follows through with his deal with Lila though.

Marinette knows, of course, and she’s ready to jump in-between them should the need arise, and she even manages to get Nino onto it, pointing out to the boy how much uncomfortable Adrien looks when Lila doesn’t stop clinging.

Nino may not believe Lila is a liar, but he does care about her and Adrien’s comfort, and he simply accepts that, liar or not, they aren’t comfortable around Lila.

Alya also notices something is amiss. While she doesn't even entertain the idea of Lila being a liar, she also wants to be Marinette’s friend. So she compromises, and she accepts Marinette simply doesn’t like Lila and stops- or, better yet, doesn’t keep on- trying to get the two girls to interact while still being friends with both.

Alya is also convinced- by Marinette, by Adrien, by Nino and even Mme Bustier- to remove Lila’s interviews from her Ladyblog.

“While I think Lila is a liar,” Marinette starts, holding Alya’s hands in hers, no malice in her eyes, in her tone, “I still think you shouldn’t have posted them. It still puts Lila in danger, of her and her family to be targeted by Papillion to get the Miraculous. I may not like Lila, but I don’t want to see her hurt.”

“I understand, Mari,” Alya says. She looks conflicted, her eyebrows scrunched up in thought. “I was really excited at first, when Lila told me about being Ladybug’s best friend…. But I get where you're coming from. I think I should remove her interviews, or any kind of menton of people closely interacting with Ladybug and Chat Noir. I was already thinking about it, actually, but I don’t want to hurt Lila’s feelings if I do.”

“You’re Lila’s friend, right Alya?” Marinette asks and Alya nods. “Then she will understand. You aren’t removing her interview to hurt her, but because you want her safe. You can try asking any of our classmates, and I’m sure they’ll agree they don’t want anyone to be Papillion’s target.”

Alya nods again, bringing Marinette into a hug. “Thank you, Mari. You’re a great friend.”

* * *

Ladybug brings in more heroes, starting with Ryuuko, then Viperion, then Pegase and Roi Singe.

While Chat never goes to Master Fu, Ladybug refuses to keep him in the dark, revealing her chosen heroes to him after every fight, writing down all the information Fu gives her about the Miraculous in a specific notebook that she, then, shares with him, sometimes going so far as to record her sessions with Fu without the man’s knowledge.

They meet Bunnix, from the future, who before leaving smirks at them.

“I can’t wait for you to meet your dragon,” she says, bouncing a little as she steps into her Burrow, portal closing before they can question it.

When Ryuuko is chosen, they think Bunnix meant her. It doesn’t feel right, though. Kagami makes for a terrifyingly good dragon, but there’s something…  _ missing _ . She’s good and awesome, but something in the back of their minds tells them it’s not  _ right _ . 

They resort to ask Longg.

“Miss Kagami is a good Dragon,” Longg says. “Yet she isn’t yours, and that’s what is making you so conflicted. You want- no,  _ need _ your Dragon. And they will come to you, in time. You will find them, and everything will click into place.”

“That sounds like something out of a fairy tale,” Ladybug admits, Chat nodding in agreement.

“Like Soulmates.”

Longg’s smile widens, gold eyes twinkling with mirth.

* * *

Chloè starts changing, Marinette notices.

She’s still mean and bratty, but not overly so, and it’s been weeks since she purposefully bullied anyone, since she’s willingly upset someone.

Adrien notices, too.

“Maybe, being Queen Been made her change,” he tentatively says.

Nino shrugs. “Dunno, dude. It’d be great if she actually got nicer, but it’s  _ Chloè _ . I’m not sure how much we should believe in this change.”

“Until she apologises for all the crap she’s pulled, I’m not believing in her change,” Alya huffs. “But yeah, she’s way less mean, that’s for sure.”

“I think Chloè could be genuine,” Marinette murmurs. “She wasn’t always a bully, and the last few times she kind of caused an akuma, she did go to apologise after the fact. To the victims  _ and _ Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“I want to believe in her,” Adrien says, glancing at where Chloè sits, alone, while she eats her lunch. “I really do.”

* * *

Kwamibuster and Feast are… Complicated.

With the first, Marinette gets Chat Noir to believe she and Ladybug are two different people, working with him as Multimouse and using almost all the Miraculous at her disposal.

Feast reveals the truth behind Fu’s need to hide, his mistake that cost lives in the form of an ever-hungry Sentimonster that ate the whole Temple and the Order of the Miraculous, over one hundred years prior. They manage to destroy and purify it, thus bringing the Order back to life and the possibility of new allies, of more information and training.

She doesn’t even get the chance to properly talk with Chat, that Chat Blanc happens not long after.

It starts with Bunnix walking into the bakery and dragging her, as Ladybug, into her Burrow and then into a sort of alternate, future timeline.

The first thing Ladybug sees, after removing the sort-of-helmet Bunnix convinced her to wear, is Paris completely destroyed, water reaching higher than houses’ roofs and not a single sound to be heard. Then she looks up and sees the moon- or its remains.

The moon doesn’t even exist anymore. It’s shattered, its pieces orbiting around the impact point of whatever destroyed it, and Ladybug sees a few of those pieces crashed over destroyed buildings.

Then she sees the first statue.

It’s of a child, civilian and young, reaching towards an empty space with only two stones and dust on the ground.

Then she uses her yo-yo as a breathing mask and she dives underwater, reaching the feet of the Eiffel Tower and seeing statues of terrified people, overhauled cars and splintered trees as she swims.

She sees herself, as a statue, trying to reach out to something-  _ someone _ \- with her hand.

She pushes down her horror, and tries to catalogue as much of it as she can, noting how future her is wearing a different suit, even if it’s not quite clear at first sight, and it only differs in her having actually shoes and gloves and a toolbelt. 

Then she sees Papillion, only a step or two behind, shielding himself from a blast.

Then, a third figure, one she doesn’t recognises but that makes her mind and heart  _ scream. _

There's a boy, seemingly around her age, with a caped suit and horns growing from his exposed forehead, sword clutched in his right hand and left one reaching out, towards herself, as he struggles to stand up from his kneeled position.

At his neck, Ladybug realises with ever growing fear, is the Dragon’s choker.

Then she’s yanked out of water, and she’s face-to-face with Chat Blanc, with his white suit and pale skin and ice cold eyes.

* * *

Miracle Queen is a disaster.

All their teammates, exposed, with Papillion nearly getting control over the Miracle Box,  _ Chloè’s actions _ .

With Miracle Queen, they lose Master Fu. 

Marinette doesn't quite know what to think. One one hand, Fu isn’t dead, even if, without his memories, he’s not going to be of much help. On the other, Marinette feels so lost. What she knows about the Miraculous came from Fu, and while she has the copy of the Miraculous Book and part of the code to translate it- Fu didn’t know the full code, but Wayzz had helped him with the missing parts- now that she has been made the Guardian, she has no idea on what to do.

“I thought Chloè was changing for the better,” Chat says, bitterly.

Ladybug doesn’t look him in the eyes, clutching the Miracle Box tight. “I thought so too.”

* * *

They confront Chloè.

“I didn’t do anything!” she protests. “Why would I help Papillion? Sure, I might’ve fucked up with Style Queen and all of that, but I  _ love _ being Queen Bee! I would never help the one person I fought against!”

Chat frowns, sharing a glance with Ladybug, then he shows Chloè the video of Miracle Queen turning into Chloè, of her then throwing a tantrum.

“That’s not me,” Chloè says, eyes wide and glistering with unshed tears. “I swear it’s not me. Ladybug, Chat Noir, please, it’s not me. I didn’t do it.”

“Then who was it?” Chat wonders.

Ladybug looks from Chloè, who is about to cry, and a worried Chat. “I may have an idea,” she admits. “But I don’t know how much of it is me being angry at her, and how much is me having genuine concerns.”

“Who?”

“Lila Rossi.”

* * *

“Please help,” Ladybug begs, looking small and scared. “ _ Please _ .”

In the distance, Chat Noir is seen fighting against mind-controlled, Miraculous Heroes as Miracle Queen’s laugh echoes through the streets of Paris.

* * *

They frown, looking doubtful at the third video sent by the supposed Miraculous Team.

“Maybe I could see if Paris is in need of help with rebuilding,” they mutter.

Their search comes up blank, with Paris not having a single building crumbled and the Eiffel Tower still standing proud.

* * *

Marinette choses to give up her love for Adrien, no matter how much her chest burns at the thought.

* * *

“Ma-ma-marinette.”

Marinette squeals, throwing her arms around Luka’s neck in excitement, Adrien trailing behind her with a nervous Kagami by his side. “Hi Luka!”

Luka chuckles, and he waves at Adrien and Kagami. “Hello Adrien. And I don’t think we’ve met…”

“Tsurugi Kagami,” Kagami introduces herself with a tilt of her head.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Luka says, smiling.

“Ready for our date?” Adrien asks.

Marinette nods vigorously. “Let’s go have fun!”

* * *

Things settle down after that.

Adrien and Kagami date, so do Marinette and Luka. Their relationships start shaky, at first, but with time they grow stronger even if not without problems.

Ladybug and Chat Noir also start trying to investigate on Miracle Queen.

They believed Chloè when she denied it, but while Lila is the only one that comes to their mind as the culprit, they also don’t want to believe it.

They can’t bring themselves to believe someone would willingly work with Papillion.

* * *

Turns out, Lila didn’t stop lying about Marinette. She just got subtler, smarter.

Marinette notices the difference slowly, day after day, noticing how the classmates she’s known less- Mylène, Ivan, Sabrina- give her the stink eye, how others- Alix, Kim, Nathaniel, Max- look conflicted every time they glance in her direction, how even Rose and Juleka seem to start to pull away.

The only ones that firmly stay on her side are Nino and Adrien, while Chloè doesn’t even try to bother with them, the fallout of her believed involvement with Miracle Queen a heavy weight on her shoulders.

Something, Marinette decides, she’ll have to resolve soon.

(Alya spends more and more time with Lila, Marinette realises. Alya’s still her friend and confidant, and for all Lila tries to convince Alya into spilling Marinette’s secrets Alya never budges. But Alya keeps on growing distant, and Marinette hates it.)

* * *

“Chloè Bourgeois was not involved with Miracle Queen,” Ladybug states, Chat Noir standing in support at her right. “Chat Noir and I are already trying to bring to light who was underneath the guise of Miracle Queen, so all we ask is to not harass Chloè for something she didn’t do.”

Mayor Bourgeois looks at her in grateful surprise, fists uncleanching.

“How can you be so sure Mlle. Bourgeois didn’t do it?” a reporter asks. “Miracle Queen was caught transforming into her, and later as she tried to catch back the akuma.”

“We already confronted Chloè on the matter,” Chat says. “She told us she didn’t do it, that she’d never willingly side with Papillion. She also showed us proof of her being out of Paris since one hour before Miracle Queen until the day after. Officer Raincomprix confirmed the validity of Chloè’s proof, making Chloè one hundred percent extraneous to the facts.”

Quiet murmurs raise from the audience of reporters, as well as from the police officers stationed as security. Some looks sceptic, others relieved, while most seem to be trying to be as impartial as they can.

“Then who was it?” Alya asks, the youngest reporter granted entry amidst a crowd of adults. “Who was akumatized into Miracle Queen? Why making us all believe it was Chloè?”

“We have a few suspects,” Ladybug tentatively reveals. “We don’t quite know how much of Miracle Queen’s actions were real of fake. We believe that Papillon and his allies might’ve used the Fox Miraculous, in the brief time it was in his possession, to fake Miracle Queen’s real identity and because of this we can’t be sure fake-Chloè was doing what the real Miracle Queen was doing. We don’t know if whoever they were, if they really willingly sought out the akuma, if they really worked with Papillion.”

“We suspect Chloè was used as a mean to get to us,” Chat continues. “Despite the rough start, we are grateful for the times Chloè, as Queen Bee, helped us with akumas. We also looked a bit into her private life- with Chloè’s permission, of course- and we found out Chloè’s reputation wasn’t the best, and only recently she started to become a better person. We believe that whoever used Chloè’s image wanted to destroy that change. If we hadn’t confronted Chloè, we would’ve been left with the belief she willingly worked with Papillion, we wouldn’t have trusted her anymore and chances are Chloè wouldn’t have known why.”

“Chloè still won’t be able to be Queen Bee again, but she knows it’s for her own safety. We would never endanger her of her family, and the same goes for our teammates, whose identities were exposed during Miracle Queen. We ask you don’t seek any of them out,” Ladybug concludes.

“Thank you for having us,” they both say, then they leap away, onto the roofs.

* * *

Things settle once more and Marinette and her classmates move up one year, into licée, still in the same class, Mme. Bustier staying as their teacher too.

Lila becomes a problem.

The class splits in two sides, one for Marinette, one for Lila, no neutral parties allowed.

It breaks Marinette’s heart when she realises Alya isn’t on her side, it breaks even more when she realises her and Nino broke up when he chose hers.

Kitty Section breaks up, Mylene, Ivan and surprisingly Rose choosing to have faith in Lila, while Juleka fully believes in Marinette, with Luka a constant support through it all.

Alix chooses her, along with Kim and Max. Sabrina makes a show of splitting away from Chloè, appearing ever more at Lila’s side.

Nathaniel manages to stay neutral, never speaking out against either side, even if he seems to lean more on Marinette’s side.

Adrien and, to everyone’s shock, Chloè, completely support Marinette.

Their class is split in two, and Marinette can only accept it, thankful that even if they can’t keep on being friends, they still remain civil.

Through it all, Mme. Bustier smiles and turns away, showing them her shoulders.

* * *

“ _ It appears your plan didn’t work. _ ”

“Your plans are hardly better.” A scoff. “At least I did some damage, with Ladybug unable to call any of her temporary heroes anymore.”

“ _ That is indeed a satisfying development. However, if we want to defeat Ladybug once and for all, we’ll need to do do better.  _ **_You_ ** _ will need to do better _ .”

“I can’t exactly be showy! I need to be subtle, or else someone will catch on it!”

“ _ Very well. I shall contact you again through an akuma next time I’ll need your assistance. _ ”

“You won’t be disappointed, Papillion.”

* * *

Ladybug eventually chooses new heroes.

Each and every single one of them is carefully chosen, vetted by both her and Chat Noir, chosen among a list of people they know and trust, and which Miraculous they think would suit them best.

(The Dragon is kept away, waiting for its new holder.)

Doing this, however, breaks the magic protecting their identities, and then it’s no longer Ladybug and Chat Noir, but Adrien and Marinette, standing on a roof under the moonlight.

* * *

Marinette breaks up with Luka as soon as she realises her feelings for Adrien- for  _ Chat Noir _ \- came back stronger than ever. It’s not fair to him, or to her, and she tells him the truth.

She doesn’t expect what he says.

“You’re Ladybug, aren’t you?” Luka asks, a small smile on his lips. 

Marinette doesn’t even try to deny it. “I’m sorry, Luka. I love you, I really do, but…”

“But you love him more,” he supplies. “Chat Noir is lucky.  _ Adrien _ is lucky.”

Marinette doesn’t deny Adrien’s identity either. She knows Luka can hear ‘heart’s songs’. Ladybug’s song matches hers, and Chat’s matches Adrien.

They’re the same people, after all.

* * *

Kagami is the one who breaks up with Adrien.

“I don’t like being the second choice, Adrien,” she says, eyes like steel. “I understood when you said you wanted to move on from your previous crush, when you started dating me, but it’s clear to me it hasn’t worked.”

Adrien winches. “I’m sorry, Kagami. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I know. Yet you did. It’s best for us if we take a while away from each other, so we can both decide where to go.”

“You’re awesome, Kagami. I hope you know that. And, again, I’m sorry. I still want to be friends, if you’d like.”

Kagami’s eyes soften. “Our friendship isn’t that weak, Adrien. And I appreciate your sincerity.”

* * *

Marinette’s commision site crashes down, and she’s unable to do much more than sending out a warning before she can’t access it anymore.

From his seat, Max looks up at her. “Why don’t you make a new one?”

“What?”

“A new site,” Max elaborates. “Lila’s been lying about it, since she knew you had it, but if you make a new site, maybe use a pseudonym, no one will try to mess with it since it’s not associated with you.”

Marinette blinks, splitting into a smile. “That’s a great idea, Max! I can already see how I’d do it! Can you help me, please?”

Max pushes up his new glasses, hiding a smile. “Of course, Marinette.”

By the end of the week, MDC’s commission site is up and running, along with a new Twitter and Instagram, and Jagged Stone, Rock Star Extraordinaire, is the first to publicly endorse her.

* * *

Marinette and Adrien don’t start dating immediately. They were both in committed relationships for almost a year, and the love they had for Luka and Kagami isn't that quick to fade, so they take it slow.

It’s the spring of Marinette’s fifteenth’s birthday that they decide to talk through it all, about their lives in and out of the mask, of before they met, about their dreams and fears.

It’s what makes them decide on a full team reveal.

* * *

“I can’t believe you two where Ladybug and Chat Noir this whole time.”

“And that they were caught into a love square with only them.”

“Wait, what?”

“Chat Noir was in love with Ladybug, who rejected him because she loved someone else. Marinette was in love with Adrien, who was unconsciously rejecting her because he loved someone else. Marinette and Ladybug are the same person, so are Adrien and Chat Noir.”

“... now I feel stupid.”

“You kind of are.”

“This is abuse-”

“Just go suck each other's face.”

“Hey!”

* * *

Marinette and Adrien start dating after that, with the full support of their friends and exes.

Then, on July 19th, Marinette crashes into Timothy Jackson Drake.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the two-shots regarding what's happening in Paris, and the divergences from canon Miraculous Ladybug.
> 
> Here, Marinette is one year younger than everyone else (starting at 13 at the beginning of troisième- last year of collège, 9th grade in the USA) and I put her birthday somewhere in spring, probably around April, and I'm probably going to have Adrien be her same age too, with his birthday either at the beginning of the school year- last days of September, first days of October- or on Halloween Night.
> 
> Everyone else is one year older than Adrien and Marinette, with the exception of maybe Max since even in canon he's a know genius who built his own AI and so it would be probable if he also skipped a year of two of schooling. IDK yet.
> 
> As for Tim, when he appears Marinette is 15, Adrien still 14 and Tim just turned 16. So Adrien is baby.
> 
> (Curse MLB for not having canon birthday dates)
> 
> ANYWAY!
> 
> Thank you for reading, and feel free to comment! Also, you can comment on your preferred dates for birthdays, and majority wins!
> 
> ADRIEN  
> 31st Oct  
> 1st Oct  
> 25 Sept
> 
> MARINETTE  
> 8th May  
> 6th April
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
